Lockheed Martin officially opens £3m UK Cyber Security Centre in Gloucester

Lockheed Martin, the US-headquartered global aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies company, has opened a £3m Cyber Security Centre in Gloucester.

The new ‘Cyber Works’ centre is designed to tackle cyber threats against the UK.

The facility will create 90 high tech jobs in Gloucester and enable Lockheed Martin to work with its UK partners to share knowledge, research and deliver ‘cutting edge’ capabilities.

Defence Minister Harriett Baldwin visited Gloucester to officially open the centre.

Harriett Baldwin said: “With our £1.9bn National Cyber Security Strategy, Britain is a world leader in the field and the opening of today’s cutting-edge centre is a great example of how partnerships with industry are at the heart of that strategy. Together we are developing solutions to national security risks.

“We are already leading in NATO with support to offensive and defensive operations in the fight against Daesh and complex cyber threats, and I’m also delighted that this centre will further boost the UK’s cyber capabilities.”

The Government is investing £1.9bn in cyber security as part of its five-year National Cyber Security Strategy to help secure the UK against cyber threats.

£10m of this is being invested in a new Cyber Innovation Fund to give startups the boost and partners they need, while the £6.5m CyberInvest Scheme is building a community of industry, government, and academics to support research and build UK security in cyberspace.

The ‘Cyber Works’ centre will support Lockheed Martin’s contribution to CyberInvest, while the company has also signed up to the Government’s CyberFirst scheme which will boost UK skills by supporting young people considering roles in cyber security and intelligence.

With National Offensive Cyber Planning allowing the UK to integrate cyber into all of its military operations, defence plays a key role in the UK’s cyber security strategy. Offensive cyber is being used in the war against Daesh.

In Defence, the £800m Innovation Initiative has already boosted investment in UK research and business, with multi-million pound competitions to develop artificial intelligence and automated systems.

In January, the MoD will open a dedicated Defence Cyber School at Shrivenham, bringing together all military joint cyber training into one place.

In addition, the Defence Secretary recently announced a reorganisation of the Army’s Royal Signals Corp and Intelligence Corp to equip them to fight the information battles of the 21st Century.

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